Many functions of modern devices in automotive, consumer and industrial applications, such as converting electrical energy and driving an electric motor or an electric machine, rely on power semiconductor devices. For example, Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs), Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) and diodes, to name a few, have been used for various applications including, but not limited to switches in power supplies and power converters.
Such a power semiconductor device is usually based on a semiconductor body that may be configured to conduct load current between at least two load terminals of the device. In order to ensure a load current capability, a blocking capability and/or a switching capability of the device, the semiconductor body may comprise one or more semiconductor regions exhibiting a specific dopant configuration. For example, such semiconductor regions may include a source region, a channel region (also referred to as body region), a field stop region, an emitter region, a superjunction structure (also referred to as compensation structure) and/or guard rings, to name a few examples.
Each of said semiconductor regions may include dopants of the first conductivity type, e.g., n-type dopants, and/or dopants of second conductivity type, e.g., p-type dopants, and each of the said semiconductor regions may exhibit a specific dopant concentration profile.
In order to create doped semiconductor regions in the semiconductor body, certain semiconductor device processing steps can be carried out, e.g., a diffusion processing step, an epitaxy processing step and/or an ion implantation processing step.
Regarding the ion implantation, an implantation apparatus may provide implantation ions and accelerate these along an extension direction towards a semiconductor body. In order to create a specific dopant concentration in the extension direction within the semiconductor body, in addition to a mask, a so-called implantation ion energy filter may be positioned between said implantation apparatus and the semiconductor body such that the implantation ions traverse the filter prior to entering the semiconductor body.